July 13, 2015

I'm in my studio for the first time since my artist-in-residency, where I spent two weeks living in a cabin rich in history, in a setting wild and wonderful. The salmon were jumping, whales were spouting, sea lions feeding, berries ripening, and the wildflowers blooming, all to the regular rise and fall of the tide, the sweep of the sun, and the changes in the moon. Immersed in nature, inspired by the beauty all around me, I spent my time painting, painting, painting.

I'll have more work to show from this experience in the next weeks and months. Meanwhile, many thanks are due to the people who imagined, created, and now support this program. Thank you, Alaska State Parks, for making this opportunity available!

February 26, 2015

Now that the packing is done, and the shipping arranged, I can really get excited about my first solo show in Anchorage! On Friday, March 6th, there will be an Opening Reception from 5:30 to 7:00pm for my show at the ConocoPhillips Gallery at Alaska Pacific.

In the spirit of the Academy Awards, I need to thank those who have helped make this show possible: Jannah Atkins, Curator of Exhibits at APU; Andrea Noble-Pelant of the Alaska State Council on the Arts; my amazing dentist who gave me back my smile in time for my opening; and my Art Buddy, Barbara Craver, who is also having a solo show at APU at the Leah J. Peterson Gallery at the same time. Wow...it would have so much harder and not nearly as fun to try to do this without her help!

These thanks could go on forever, all truly heartfelt, from daily support from my sister, Naomi, all the way back to my daddy, who first put a crayon in my hand, and my mom, who told me I could do anything I set my mind on. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

If you can't make it on Friday, I'll be in the gallery on Saturday as well, from noon to 2:00pm. I'd like to express my appreciation to each and every one of you who have supported my work for so many years... Thank you!

January 22, 2015

It's a rare painting that doesn't influence the artist during the process of its creation; paint has a way of making itself a key player in the production of art, often nudging the artist off course in unanticipated directions. In these paintings, I've embraced the power of the paint and made use of the accidental and unanticipated effects of colors mixing, swirling, twisting, and traveling. Incorporating these features, unadulterated, while detailing images in and around them, has been both challenging and rewarding.

Whether separated by a clear layer of glazing medium, or applied simultaneously, the colors affect each other in predictable and unpredictable ways, but they were applied with intention and purpose; drawing on nature, memory, and imagination for inspiration, these paintings were made in celebration of the magic and beauty all around us.

November 28, 2014

What began, for me, as a year of experimentation with larger and multiple panel paintings, evolved into an exploration of making art with free flowing washes, incorporating the accidental effects of color mixing, taking steps toward semi-abstraction, and developing an enthusiasm for interpreting nature in new ways -- beyond the visible landscapes and plant forms to visualizing natural phenomena at the molecular level.

It's been a breakthrough year for me; creating this work has been fun, challenging, and rewarding. I hope these paintings convey my appreciation of the magic and beauty of the world we live in.

My new work will be at the Juneau Douglas City Museum from December 5th through December 27th. Please join me at the Opening Reception on December 5th, from 4:30 to 7:30pm!

February 19, 2014

Think big! It's a phrase that is both exciting and challenging. This year, thanks to support from the Rasmuson Foundation, I am thinking and working BIG. I've just completed my third large painting for a show scheduled for December 2014 at the Juneau Douglas City Museum. When I say big, I'm talking about three by six to four by twelve foot paintings. I have learned so much while doing this work. The most obvious example: to complete a painting three times as big as any I have ever made before will take...three times as long!

While I'm working on a big painting I have lots of time to dream about and compose the next painting in my head. Inspirations for new paintings are constantly coming to me only to be eclipsed by the next; no matter how great an idea seemed at one point, if it's not the one that's got hold of my imagination when I finish my current work, it is almost certain to be overridden by the idea of the moment.

I've learned that ideas keep coming; I just can't keep up with them all. The best I can do is capture them with a few words and a small sketch. Sometimes, that sketch will have to wait, tacked to the bulletin board or stored away in an idea file until the time is right. Maybe it's enough just to have those fantastic ideas for paintings. To compose them in your head. To see art all around you, potential all around you, whether or not the ideas ever are transformed into paintings. To experience the art of life.

July 26, 2013

Remember the color wheel? Using red, yellow, and blue, you can mix various shades of all other colors and, notoriously, you can mix them all together to get…mud! But not all reds are equal, nor blues, nor yellows; the combinations that result from mixing different primaries create distinctly different color signatures.

It's no secret that I love bright colors. My new work reflects that; but, in addition to my favorite primary colors (Quinachridone Magenta, Hansa Yellow, and Pthalo Blue), these paintings also incorporate an important new set of primaries: memory, imagination, and extrapolation.

I'll be showing my new work at Annie Kaill's Fine Art Gallery on Front Street in Juneau on Friday, August 2nd, with a reception beginning at 4:30pm. I hope to see you there!

June 25, 2013

These paintings are from Juneau, Northwest Washington State, Norway, and the color transmogrifier in my head. That's the same brain center that sometimes kicks in to certain dream-states and works on brilliant backlit days to change the forest into a psychedelic swirl of pure and intense colors. It happens unconsciously and sometimes against my will; I just follow the colors and enjoy the trip!

If I limited my palette to burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and Prussian blue this kind of thing wouldn't happen; instead, my paint box is bright with Hansa yellow, quinacridone magenta, and phthalo blue, colors that knock your socks off if you don't tame them with a little of their compliment and a touch of white now and then.

While the colors might stray from their origin, each of these paintings is firmly anchored in reality. Bridal crowns can be seen in the folk museums in Norway, though bejeweled rather than decked out in wildflowers; Mt. Baker and the empty tulip fields did glow in the evening light; the quarter moon balanced in perfect symmetry over the Hardanger fjord; and visitors everywhere seek solace and inspiration in the face of nature's ever constant and ever changing energy.

Paintings in this show can be previewed in the photo album at the top right side of this page. I hope you can come to the opening reception at the Alaska State Library on July 5th, from 4:30 to 6:00 pm.

April 22, 2013

Our local radio station, KTOO FM, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. I have been a fan of KTOO since I first stepped off the state ferry, back when it still docked downtown, in December, 1981. By Christmas of that year, I was a volunteer at the station, playing old-timey country music in the wee hours of the morning. It was just a preview of the many opportunities that would become available to me in my new home in Juneau, Alaska.

I am honored to have been selected by the people at KTOO to have my painting, Waterfall, Salmon Creek, featured on their celebration poster. The giclee process really captures the color and sheen of the original painting; I'm pleased with the quality of my very first print. I've attached an invitation to the KTOO Celebration event this Friday. I hope you can come!

January 21, 2013

In preparation for my big adventure as an Artist-in-Residence in Norway last fall, I studied language tapes and practiced wrapping my mouth around sounds and letters that don't even exist in the English language. I stayed at an artist's workplace called Kunstnarhuset Messen in the beautiful town of Ålvik, a small community on the magnificent Hardanger Fjord in Western Norway. At Messen, a municipally sponsored work space for local and international visiting artists, I had a large studio, good company, and a quiet place to stay.

I painted, hiked, and toured Norway by bus, ferry, and train, visiting art studios in Bergen and Trondheim, and, just for being an artist, getting free entry to art Museums everywhere I went. At the Hardanger Folkemuseum, just a short ferry ride over the Fjord, I spent days learning about traditional Norwegian culture. I was even lucky enough to attend the Cured Sheep's Head Festival in Voss! Most importantly, I had time to work, think, and reflect.

I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. Mange takk (many thanks) to the good people at Messen and my new friends in Ålvik, the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council for help with my ticket to Norway, and to my local language coach and traveling companion, Mr. Bart Watson, who first introduced me to the sounds of the Hardanger fiddle and Norwegian language and folklore.

You are invited to the Franklin Street Gallery at the Baranof Hotel on February 1st, from 4:30 to 7:00, for the opening reception for "Snakker du Norsk?: Three Months of Painting in Norway". Thanks again for your support! Har de bra (have it good)!

Welcome! This album contains paintings I've made since 2006 that have been sold or are no longer available. It's a pretty good record of where I've been and where my time goes... If you are interested, just click on the small images to enter the photo gallery for the title, location, media, and dimensions of each painting. Thanks for visiting.